Railroaded! *** (1947, John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont, Jane Randolph) – Classic Movie Review 10,448

Director Anthony Mann’s neat and well-plotted 1947 low-budget crime thriller Railroaded! stars John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont, and Jane Randolph.

It is an incisive, dour, dark-toned little 40s film-noir mobster tale with John Ireland as smooth psycho-thug Duke Martin chasing after pretty Rosie Ryan (Ryan) and with only homicide detective Police Sergeant Mickey Ferguson (Beaumont) prepared to stop him.

Randolph plays Clara Calhoun, a beautician with a New York shop that is a front for a bookmaking operation. Two masked gunmen burst into her shop and hold up Clara and her assistant Marie Weston (Peggy Converse), stealing the betting money. Clara connives with her boyfriend Duke Martin to stage the robbery, which goes sour when a cop and Duke’s partner are shot. Duke then arranges that the owner of the car they stole, Steve Ryan (Ed Kelly), is framed. Railroaded! Detective Ferguson is attracted to Steve’s sister Rosie.

The excellent Mann’s direction pulls no punches and the performances match his grit. Railroaded! is above-average of its humble poverty row film B-movie kind, and it manages to stand out in a crowded market of 40s film-noir.

The equally excellent Ireland is really scary in a tour-de-force display of evil, and the other main actors are outstanding too.

John C Higgins writes the screenplay from an original story by Gertrude Walker, in turn loosely based on the real-life case of Majczek and Marcinkiewicz, which inspired Call Northside 777 (1948).

Also in the cast are Ed Kelly, Charles D Brown, Keefe Brasselle, Clancy Cooper, Peggy Converse, Hermine Sterler, Roy Gordon, Ellen Corby, and Kenneth Farrell.

Railroaded! is directed by Anthony Mann, runs 72 minutes, is made by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), is released by Eagle-Lion Films, is written by John C Higgins, based on an original story by Gertrude Walker, is shot in black and white by Guy Roe, is produced by Charles F Reisner, is scored by Alvin Levin and is designed by Perry Smith.

‘Railroaded’ refers to the conviction of someone based on false or weak evidence without proper corroboration.

Mann is also remembered for Desperate (1947), Raw Deal, T-Men, Border Incident, and He Walked by Night.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,448

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com